Fire Kills 2 Soldier’s Children on Base

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Fire roared through a soldier’s home on the Fort Campbell Army Base early Tuesday, killing his two young children and seriously injuring his wife, officials said.

A 3-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were pronounced dead at the base hospital, spokeswoman Kelly Ann Tyler said.

Their mother was flown by helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, about 50 miles southeast of the base, and was listed in stable condition in the burn unit, Tyler said.

The father, a soldier with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, was being treated for his non-life threatening injuries at the base’s Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. None of their names was immediately released.

An 18-month-old girl was not injured, Tyler said.

The cause of the early morning fire at the two-story housing unit, where six families live, was under investigation. The families were relocated, Tyler said. An adjacent building was also damaged.

“There are organizations in place on the post, such as the chaplain and emergency services, that will step in to support the families” affected by the fire, she said.

Every unit on the base has smoke detectors installed, she said.

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On the Net:

Fort Campbell: http://www.campbell.army.mil/

(This version CORRECTS the age of the girl who died to 3, not 2, and that of the surviving child to 18 months, not 14 months.)